There are many ways to improve our productivity in our practices. One way is to see more patients or expand our hours. Another way is to offer additional services. I particularly enjoy incorporating new services that can be implemented without adding additional treatment time to my day. Here are some additions to my practice that have significantly improved patient care and enhanced production:
Philips Zoom delivered
A home run for at-home bleaching. It doesn’t get easier than this: scan your patient and perfectly fitting trays, bleach, and instructions arrive to your patient’s home. No additional appointments are needed and if you are short-staffed (who isn’t?!), you don’t have to have an assistant make your bleaching trays. Your patients can get a reliable bleaching system while your office maximizes your chair time!
Smile Design (3Shape)
Sometimes patients need to see the possibilities when you recommended indirect to restore the worn dentition. 3Shape’s smile design software allows us to efficiently simulate the definitive restorative outcome to effectively educate our patients. If you need help getting patients to say “yes” to cosmetic reconstructions, let them see how great they will look when it’s done.
Perio Tray Therapy (Perio Protect)
Some patients need a little help, beyond home care, to manage their perio condition. Perio Tray therapy is delivered through custom fitted trays that push and hold a peroxide-based medicine subgingivally to kill bacteria and promote periodontal health. This procedure is another “scan it and deliver it”—scan your patient and have them return to receive the trays. This procedure adds significant value to your hygiene revenue and optimizes your patients health!
VoiceWorks (Florida Probe)
When hygienists call out their periodontal findings, patients are listening! This voice-activated periodontal charting software engages patients in their periodontal status. When patients hear their probing depths, bleeding points, furcations and recession measurements, they have no choice but to accept their condition. This software has helped patients say yes to much-needed periodontal care.
Icon (DMG)
Get rid of unsightly white spots with a minimally invasive solution. Icon makes white spots disappear via resin infiltration. No drilling needed. This is an efficient, painless, productive procedure that will have your patients smiling again!
Medit i700 wireless
Need a scanner for a “scan it and deliver it” service? There are many intraoral scanners on the market, and the Medit i700 wireless is one to check out. It is competitively priced, fast, accurate, and provides a fully open system. Its intelligent “Smart Stitching” technology that allows the clinician to scan one side of an arch, scan the second side, then the software will stitch the sides together.
A note about referrals
There are many new initiatives that you can implement to increase your bottom line, but some dentists hesitate to bring in specialty services because they do not want to hurt the relationship with their local specialists. You can bring in new services without straining your relationships with your referrals. Whether it’s clear aligners, implants, digital dentures, endo, or whatever, talk with your referral first. It’s inevitable that you will always need their expertise. If you market your new service, you will bring more of these cases into your practice. You will have the luxury of seeing the types of cases you want to see and still refer to your specialist colleagues. Everybody wins! If you tell them about what you are doing, many will offer to help you with your cases and make themselves available if you are in a jam!
Editor's note: This article appeared in the August 2022 print edition of Dental Economics magazine. Dentists in North America are eligible for a complimentary print subscription. Sign up here.
